Thin and light in appearance, the 1995 Rosso di Montalcino has almost fully reverted to its tertiary characteristics. The bouquet opens to spicy dark fruit, cured meat and savory tobacco. This is remembered as a very good vintage, as was 1990, which is also part of this retrospective. Vintners in Montalcino tell me that they started to notice the first signs of climate change and warming temperatures in the 1990s. By the dawn of the new millennium, hot summers and rapidly ripening fruit spurred by dry winds would become more frequent in this corner of Tuscany. This wine reveals dry tannins with aromas of caramel, butterscotch and dusty cinnamon. Vineyards in Sant'Angelo in Colle where Il Poggione is located span from 127 to 400 meters above sea level. Those higher altitudes have always protected this special estate from hot weather patterns.